Photo by Roxanne Duennebeil
Article by Jason Christensen
Salt Lake defeats Summit 18-21 to clinch #1 Seed in West
The Salt Lake Shred keep finding ways to win as the regular season comes to a close, taking down the Colorado Summit on the strength of an 8-to-3 run to break away and secure the top seed in the West. The Shred’s 21-18 victory completes their undefeated divisional run and makes them one of only two teams in the UFA with 10 wins going into Week 12, joined by the undefeated Chicago Union.
Defensive playmaking all around
In one of the Shred’s lowest-scoring games of the season, the defense became critical to keep the Summit at bay and create scoring opportunities. Costly miscommunication popped up several times in this game on the Shred’s offense, but they were able to keep up enough to stay within one point for most of the game.
Kimball Pew and Alex Forsberg both picked up Honor-Roll awards for their part in the defense’s great showing against Colorado. They joined McKay and Chad Yorgason as the only Shred players to have a plus/minus of +5, and came away with several critical plays in the third quarter to strengthen their lead.
Early in the third with the game tied 9-9, Colorado came up with a drive that ended in a 46-yard huck into the endzone to retake the lead. Keep in mind that the Shred have posted one of the worst huck defenses in the league going into this game, but some improvements have been made in recent weeks. Pew managed to get a block in the endzone to prevent the score from Colorado and open a break opportunity. The Shred let off a series of short passes to get into a position to score and steal the lead for themselves. Jeremiah Branson let off a 44-yard huck for the score, and Pew made a fantastic layout to make the catch and put the Shred up by one.
“I got the D, and I was really tired,” Pew said. “I got looked off on an upline, so I was just trying to get out of the play, but they put it so I had to go chase it down.”
“I was getting fired up, and that was honestly the most tiring part, just going over to fans and getting them hyped up,” he said.
From that moment on, Salt Lake never trailed again.
More scoring dominance from Russnogle
Matt Russnogle had yet another incredible scoring game against Colorado. Between the two games against the Summit, Snog scored eleven goals. When asked about that feat, he was quick to thank his teammates.
“The guys [did] a great job dominating their role and opening up the space for me to finish the goals, so honestly just a ton of credit to the other guys,” Russnogle said. Snog has 42 goals to his name this season, good enough for third in the UFA. The 32-year-old’s confidence in his teammates is met only by the confidence his teammates have in him.
Braving the Wind Chill and beyond
One more home game remains, and the Shred have saved one of their toughest opponents for last on July 18. The Minnesota Wind Chill comes into Salt Lake with a strong 8-2 record and will hope to play spoiler to the Shred’s hopeful 11-1 season.
That being said, the Shred have also clinched the West Division and will play the winner of Oakland and Colorado once the playoffs kick off in August at home–a situation not unfamiliar to Coach Bryce Merrill.
“I’m both excited because I love playing in front of our fans, and the echoes of last year, we had this too, and then we lost,” Merrill said. “I want to celebrate the boys and getting us to this point, and I want to be realistic that the toughest reps, the hardest practices are ahead of us now. We do need to celebrate, and we also have to get ready.”
